And so the Premier League is back, up and running and I thought it was a thoroughly enjoyable opening day at Carrow Road.
Having seen the team sheets before kick off I think it's fair to say we were severely weakened whilst Everton were at full strength, so a point was always going to be a good result but come full time it proved to be an excellent draw. The visitors played extremely well, only let down slightly by a lack of a killer ball. We did well to nullify their big name talents. Baines was kept remarkably quiet by Bennett and Whittaker, the latter managing to get himself on the score sheet in spectacular style as his rampaging, and slightly fortuitous run ended with the full back pouncing on his own rebound. I felt Redmond did well down the left. His decision making will often be questioned this season as he's still learning but overall he did very well and often came looking for the ball. A good start by him.
Up front van Wolfswinkel added a touch of class to our side. His movement specifically is superb, great awareness. A bit unlucky on a one-on-one to be tightly flagged offside. His header was outstanding, using the pace on the cross to guide the ball into the top corner. He's definitely going to be a hit but his job should be made easier once we get some of our better players back.
In goal, Ruddy made two brilliant saves and was perhaps a little unlucky that Garrido didn't react quick enough on the second goal after he parried Jelavic's shot. He certainly had no chance for Barkley's strike. At the back Martin was at his best, making one block to keep the scores level. Turner didn't look match fit to me and was sloppy at times but grew into the match. Garrido played quite well but was pegged back by the ever dangerous Coleman while Whittaker, as stated above attacked well, although he did get caught out a couple of times at the back to allow crosses into the box.
In midfield we looked a much better side when Hoolahan was replaced by Tettey and Howson pushed further forward. Wes had a disappointing game, often dallying on the ball. Needs to be a bit sharper or he'll struggle to get much game time when Fer comes into the midfield. We were a little slow to close at times but we did a good job of limiting Everton to mainly long range shots for much of the game. Johnson was sluggish and was the main culprit in losing possession, another who didn't look match fit. Howson got better as the game went on. Bennett delivered two or three good set pieces and worked hard, didn't have a bad game at all and as mentioned, Redmond was lively.
I was hugely impressed by Everton. I thought they played much, much better than they did last time they were at Carrow Road and will feel hard done by that they didn't go away with all three points. However, from our point of view, there was a lot to build on and I sincerely hope nobody has been moaning about Saturday. We were depleted yet managed to fight back from a goal down against a better side. (And there is no shame in being second best to Everton). Once again our passing was sloppy at times but there wasn't too much long ball which was pleasing, despite being put under a lot of pressure from our opponents, we tried to play our way out of trouble when possible. We looked a threat on the counter. Both new signings played well. No goal music! A few negatives as you'd expect but plenty of positives. I think that could prove a very valuable point.
There's certainly a lot to work on but we effectively have five new players to come back into the side. Always pleasing to fight back when going behind and should be a good confidence boost. It was a really good match overall, very entertaining especially in the 2nd half. The star of the show was undoubtedly Ross Barkley who on the evidence of Saturday will be going to the World Cup next summer. Having watched Liverpool being lauded over by commentators during their match against Stoke prior to our game, I'd argue Everton still look the more accomplished of the two Merseyside clubs. It was a good way to start the season.
Ratings:
Ruddy 7
Whittaker 7
Turner 6
Martin 7.5
Garrido 6.5
Johnson 6
Howson 6.5
Bennett 6.5
Redmond 7.5
Hoolahan 5
van Wolfswinkel 7
Tettey 7
Olsson too late to rate
Man of the Match: Ross Barkley (Everton) 9 - outstanding display from the 19 year old. Massive future.
Having seen the team sheets before kick off I think it's fair to say we were severely weakened whilst Everton were at full strength, so a point was always going to be a good result but come full time it proved to be an excellent draw. The visitors played extremely well, only let down slightly by a lack of a killer ball. We did well to nullify their big name talents. Baines was kept remarkably quiet by Bennett and Whittaker, the latter managing to get himself on the score sheet in spectacular style as his rampaging, and slightly fortuitous run ended with the full back pouncing on his own rebound. I felt Redmond did well down the left. His decision making will often be questioned this season as he's still learning but overall he did very well and often came looking for the ball. A good start by him.
Up front van Wolfswinkel added a touch of class to our side. His movement specifically is superb, great awareness. A bit unlucky on a one-on-one to be tightly flagged offside. His header was outstanding, using the pace on the cross to guide the ball into the top corner. He's definitely going to be a hit but his job should be made easier once we get some of our better players back.
In goal, Ruddy made two brilliant saves and was perhaps a little unlucky that Garrido didn't react quick enough on the second goal after he parried Jelavic's shot. He certainly had no chance for Barkley's strike. At the back Martin was at his best, making one block to keep the scores level. Turner didn't look match fit to me and was sloppy at times but grew into the match. Garrido played quite well but was pegged back by the ever dangerous Coleman while Whittaker, as stated above attacked well, although he did get caught out a couple of times at the back to allow crosses into the box.
In midfield we looked a much better side when Hoolahan was replaced by Tettey and Howson pushed further forward. Wes had a disappointing game, often dallying on the ball. Needs to be a bit sharper or he'll struggle to get much game time when Fer comes into the midfield. We were a little slow to close at times but we did a good job of limiting Everton to mainly long range shots for much of the game. Johnson was sluggish and was the main culprit in losing possession, another who didn't look match fit. Howson got better as the game went on. Bennett delivered two or three good set pieces and worked hard, didn't have a bad game at all and as mentioned, Redmond was lively.
I was hugely impressed by Everton. I thought they played much, much better than they did last time they were at Carrow Road and will feel hard done by that they didn't go away with all three points. However, from our point of view, there was a lot to build on and I sincerely hope nobody has been moaning about Saturday. We were depleted yet managed to fight back from a goal down against a better side. (And there is no shame in being second best to Everton). Once again our passing was sloppy at times but there wasn't too much long ball which was pleasing, despite being put under a lot of pressure from our opponents, we tried to play our way out of trouble when possible. We looked a threat on the counter. Both new signings played well. No goal music! A few negatives as you'd expect but plenty of positives. I think that could prove a very valuable point.
There's certainly a lot to work on but we effectively have five new players to come back into the side. Always pleasing to fight back when going behind and should be a good confidence boost. It was a really good match overall, very entertaining especially in the 2nd half. The star of the show was undoubtedly Ross Barkley who on the evidence of Saturday will be going to the World Cup next summer. Having watched Liverpool being lauded over by commentators during their match against Stoke prior to our game, I'd argue Everton still look the more accomplished of the two Merseyside clubs. It was a good way to start the season.
Ratings:
Ruddy 7
Whittaker 7
Turner 6
Martin 7.5
Garrido 6.5
Johnson 6
Howson 6.5
Bennett 6.5
Redmond 7.5
Hoolahan 5
van Wolfswinkel 7
Tettey 7
Olsson too late to rate
Man of the Match: Ross Barkley (Everton) 9 - outstanding display from the 19 year old. Massive future.
from me !!
